Creating a "learning environment"

[lorrainejmc]

We don't have enough rooms to have a school room or playroom. We homeschool in the dining room where we also have a desk and computer, low table for the younger 2 and a tall bookcase. I store the curriculum in baskets by subject on the shelves. The dining room leads to the living room where we have low bookcases which are overfilled and have baskets of wooden puzzles sitting on top.

 

There is simply too much and it isn't always easily accessible to the kids. I would love a montessori inspired learning environment but don't know where to start. ATM there is too much clutter.

 

Can anyone make any suggestions or has anyone simplified their homeschool space? Would you rotate books and materials? My kids are 9, 7 and 5.

[Critterfixer]

1. Declutter. Go through the puzzles to see how many are missing pieces. Discard. Go through the bookcase. If it is not a favorite or doesn't meet literary or interest standards let someone else have it. If you love it but can't find a use for it right now, try really hard to give it away to someone who will also love it. If you can't, then box it up and find it a place to live away from the current work environment.

 

2. All of your children are old enough to attend to their own workspaces. My children have the dining room table for school, and for play. But there is a rule in the house that the table has to be neat for school by the end of the day. I enforce the same rule on myself--the kitchen/dining room, where my desk, bookcases, etc all live--has to be tidy for the next day.

 

3. A learning environment has as much to do with the culture of the family than the actual space itself. Children do need to learn to be neat and to clean up when necessary, but they also need to feel free to spread out with about fourteen books, to be able to go through stacks of paper when learning to draw, and to be able to make a mess with a chemistry or biology experiment. Or to scrub their rock collection in the kitchen sink as my ds is currently doing!:tongue_smilie: We feel free to make a mess because we know we will clean it up. We are free to go through a ream of paper drawing dragons and other monsters, because at the end of the day we will sort out what we want to keep and put the rest into our scrap paper box. We can take out armfuls of books to look at and read because at the end of the day they will go back neatly into their bookcases.

[Lori D.]

Definitely agree with Critterfixer's mindset. :)

 

Another idea is to check out Walmart/Target/et.al and purchase a wheeled unit, made of stacking plastic bins/drawers (along the lines of this, but perhaps with actual bins that are larger like this). Wheeled allows you to move it at will -- perhaps store it in a closet, garage, laundry room, and move it to the school area each day. Or, leave it in one place and just pull out a bin/drawer at a time as desired -- for example, a bin/drawer of art or science hands-on can be pulled out, used, materials all tossed back into the bin, and the bin-drawer slid back into place afterwards.

 

Each "bin/drawer" could be a "learning center". You can only use one center at a time, and you can encourage both learning by spreading it all out when in use, but also encourage neatness by picking it all up again and putting it away after use -- which then creates space for the next "learning center" of the day, OR, returns the house to normal living.

 

 

We also have bookshelves in every bedroom, to encourage reading whenever the DC desire. When they were the age of your children, we also kept a big plastic tub in the DSs' bedroom, with lots of costume bits, swords, doctor kit, fireman axe and coat, etc. to encourage lots of imaginative play.

[kathkath]

We have just added a 4x4 white pegboard (half of a $15 panel cut at lowes) and I bought some hooks and baskets at home depot for it. I have 2 baskets full of library books and also baskets with cans of pencils/paint brushes, paper etc. I find the kids are more apt to get things out on their own and PUT THEM BACK because it is so visual. My friends are all inspired too.

[kristinannie]

My space is not completely organized yet or I would post pics. Too embarassing... :tongue_smilie: We have two bookshelves that the kids can reach. One is filling with math and phonics manipulatives and games. I am amazed at how often they go get them and just play with them, learning the whole time! I also keep a small bookshelf of accessible art supplies if they want to do a project on their own. The stuff that requires more parental oversight is all in a dresser in our playroom closet. OK, I am not going to lie here...two dressers.... :lol:

 

I use those drawer systems for school stuff. Each child has their own stack and all of their school books are in there. DS5 knows to get his math out of the orange drawer, his handwriting out of the green door, etc. That keeps all of that organized. Our other bookshelf houses all of the books we are using fro this school year. Our other homeschool books are on a large bookshelf in the playroom. DH and my books are up in the loft area we use as an office.

 

I keep all of my Artistic Pursuits and science stuff in a large 2 drawer plastic unit I got cheap at Walmart. Our large laminated maps are in a small bathroom trashcan (new) next to our school table.

 

I totally agree that it is easy to get way too much stuff. After we get back next week, I am going to go through our kids' books and get rid of the twaddle. We have way too many books. I am going to donate them to a program that provides free books to kids who don't have any.

[laughing lioness]

Creating a learning environment has more to do with how your beliefs inform your behavior/environment, than about dedicated space you have available to use. Creating a life style of learning is something I've written about here.

"True" unschoolers (vs. lazy parents who justify their own selfishness by calling it unschooling (but I digress:D) have this down pat. Check out John Holt, Grace Llewellyn, The Colfaxs, Marilyn Howshell, the Moore's and Barb Shelton's writings. That will be a good place to start. Also, Mary Hood had a great book on creating learning centers.

There are some great moms on the high school board whom you might want to go over and "meet" too. Many of them have homeschooled for a long time and have lots of words of wisdom regarding just this topic.

And it's "Homeschool Room" week over at HOTM. there are scads of schoolroom pics posted. It's a GREAT way to glean ideas about what to do with the space you have available! Here's mine.

Edited August 11, 2011 by laughing lioness

[ClassicMom]

A learning environment has as much to do with the culture of the family than the actual space itself.

 

I believe Critterfixer hit the nail on the head when she claimed that learning environment has as much to do with the culture of the family than the actual space itself.

 

Last August, we moved from a four-bedroom house with a finished basement to a three-bedroom apartment. If anyone can relate to space issues, it's me. There are five of us along with a German Shepherd living in tight quarters. I have still managed to cull out areas for my son as well as our homeschooling supplies. Are they big? No. But they make do. Some of them I have to put away at the end of the day and some of them blend in with the environment of the home. But learning is part of our lifestyle. We don't stop just because it is 3:00. We may pick something up at 9:00 before bed.

 

I have had to be ruthless in the de-cluttering of our home both when we moved here and again this summer. If we haven't touched it in a year, it was gone. Once I went through everything, then all of our belongings were grouped by like-items. Everything has a place and generally speaking a container in that place to keep it organized. We don't use dressers which gives us a lot more room in the bedrooms. Instead, we have shelves and bins in the closets.

 

I use workboxes and keep everything for the workboxes as well as manipulatives for daily work on the floor of my pantry. We school mostly at the kitchen table so the workboxes are kept next to my desk in the kitchen. Binders are kept neatly on an end table in my living room. I store resource books on a bookcase in the living room as well. I enjoy doing centers with my son, so I make them on tri-fold boards and fold them up at the end of the day and store them behind the couch. If we are doing an experiment or something in the center, I use a small, but wide table that folds up and set the center on top of it for the day.

 

My son has sensory needs so his sensory area is in a corner of his bedroom. There is a mini-trampoline that can be folded up as well as a therapy ball and a basket of small items for hand-held sensory input. He also has a corner with a bookshelf completely devoted to books for his delight. Chapter books, science books, history books, Bibles, etc. Next to his bookcase are a couple of pillows to cuddle up with to read to his heart content. I also keep his CD player and headphones here.

 

The linen closet in the hallway holds science kits, art supplies, games, basically the items written in my lesson plans that we will be pulling out at some time in the future. I know that if I need it, I will be able to find it here. Of course, regular linen closet items are here as well but I was able to condense it down and I use the floor as well.

 

I also have a lot of space on a shelf on top of my washer and dryer that I use to house some bins of items that I do rotate. Since he is older and I don't need to rotate toys, I do use them to rotate items based on theme that we are studying or holiday for the centers.

 

Basically, if I have found a space, I have found a way to use it and incorporate it into our homeschool. :)

[T'smom]

Creating a learning environment has more to do with how your beliefs inform your behavior/environment, than about dedicated space you have available to use. Creating a life style of learning is something I've written about here.

"True" unschoolers (vs. lazy parents who justify their own selfishness by calling it unschooling (but I digress:D) have this down pat. Check out John Holt, Grace Llewellyn, The Colfaxs, Marilyn Howshell, the Moore's and Barb Shelton's writings. That will be a good place to start. Also, Mary Hood had a great book on creating learning centers.

There are some great moms on the high school board whom you might want to go over and "meet" too. Many of them have homeschooled for a long time and have lots of words of wisdom regarding just this topic.

And it's "Homeschool Room" week over at HOTM. there are scads of schoolroom pics posted. It's a GREAT way to glean ideas about what to do with the space you have available! Here's mine.

 

Laughing Lioness,

I LOVE what you wrote about creating a learning life style. LOVE IT. I'm going to print it out and put it on my fridge. I'm going to make dh read it. It resonates with me- but I could never have put it into words as well as you did!!!! It's brilliant. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for taking the time to share this. I really, really wish I had a woman like you to hang out with and learn from.

[Hunter]

Some families LIVE education. The history and literature books are where the comfiest chairs are, in the living room. The art supplies and science kits are on a bookshelf near the sink. The math and grammar and reference books are in the dining room because it has the biggest table. Entire walls in the hallways have been covered with bookshelves, floor to ceiling. A ring of bookshelves circles each room, up near the ceiling. Doors have been painted with magnetic and chalkboard paint. Maps and charts replace pictures on the walls. They don't have a Montessori ROOM, but instead a Montessori HOUSE.

[ubermomto5]

:)

Edited August 11, 2011 by ubermomto5
it works fine! i don't know what happened!

[ubermomto5]

well i just tried it again and it worked just fine. boy that gave me a shock! sorry!

[ClassicMom]

Some families LIVE education. The history and literature books are where the comfiest chairs are, in the living room. The art supplies and science kits are on a bookshelf near the sink. The math and grammar and reference books are in the dining room because it has the biggest table. Entire walls in the hallways have been covered with bookshelves, floor to ceiling. A ring of bookshelves circles each room, up near the ceiling. Doors have been painted with magnetic and chalkboard paint. Maps and charts replace pictures on the walls. They don't have a Montessori ROOM, but instead a Montessori HOUSE.

:iagree:

[zenjenn]

Our primary room for education IS our dining room. For the last two years I have tried to maintain the facade that this is a room I could easily convert back into the "formal dining space" for guests or holidays.

 

This year I gave up trying to "put up appearances" that we don't have school crap everywhere. :D

 

Here is our dining room now. No more rolling up a map and shoving it away in a cabinet out of sight:

 

 

And yes, the dining room looks like that when the guests are over now too.

[lorrainejmc]

Some families LIVE education. The history and literature books are where the comfiest chairs are, in the living room. The art supplies and science kits are on a bookshelf near the sink. The math and grammar and reference books are in the dining room because it has the biggest table. Entire walls in the hallways have been covered with bookshelves, floor to ceiling. A ring of bookshelves circles each room, up near the ceiling. Doors have been painted with magnetic and chalkboard paint. Maps and charts replace pictures on the walls. They don't have a Montessori ROOM, but instead a Montessori HOUSE.

 

I think this is what I meant by a "learning environment". Yes, a Montessori house, that's what I want.:tongue_smilie: So, books that are always bedtime stories should be in the kids rooms, art/craft materials should be near the art/craft table etc. I have achieved this sort of organization in other parts of the house, so I am now focusing on getting control of toys, books and puzzles and having them stored where they are used.

 

Easier said than done but I will get there.:D

[Hunter]

It's hard for us to imagine what we haven't seen, even though it's so obvious. My home is a work in progress, and I got so much resistance and negative input from people when I first started. Now people are intrigued enough that they are slower to try and convert me to "normality", thinking my home is nothing but a result of poverty and brain damage.

 

Now people want to be in my apartment more than I want them to be :-0 It kinda looks like what you would imagine a rich kid's artist loft to look like, that Daddy pays for, to give his little girl a "job" to go to. It looks like a cool hang out for 20 somethings.

[Guest]

I think decluttering is the number one thing to do.

[Guest]

Our primary room for education IS our dining room. For the last two years I have tried to maintain the facade that this is a room I could easily convert back into the "formal dining space" for guests or holidays.

 

This year I gave up trying to "put up appearances" that we don't have school crap everywhere. :D

 

Here is our dining room now. No more rolling up a map and shoving it away in a cabinet out of sight:

 

 

And yes, the dining room looks like that when the guests are over now too.

 

This looks great to me!

[laughing lioness]

T'smom- tyvm :001_smile:. I am really touched by your words!!

[Rosie_0801]

One really important thing I have taken from my childhood is that a child must be allowed to touch the reference books! We had a few great, hardcover volumes- a huge atlas, the inevitable bird book and possibly others I can't remember. To touch them, we had to wash our hands and catch Mum when she was willing to supervise us. What good was that? !! I probably got to touch them about three times in my childhood.

 

To help me combat the desire to keep such books safe, I give them to ds for his birthday. They will remain up, out of reach, until I can trust him not to rip them up (he's 2 :rolleyes:) then they'll be bought down so they can be used enough to justify the expense!

 

Rosie

[Hunter]

Yes, reference books are to be USED! A waterlogged, stained and bent reference book is a reference book that was READ :-) I've always had good luck aquiring used reference books. I have a LOT of them. My library has a book sale every 2 months and no one but me buys the specialty sets of encyclopedias. I get them for $2.00 a volume. I read them while eating :-) They have tea stains and fingerprints. I like to study with things spread on the floor. Some of them get stepped on. It's all good.

[momacacia]

ZenJenn,

Maybe your guests will learn something, too. ;)

 

Our primary room for education IS our dining room. For the last two years I have tried to maintain the facade that this is a room I could easily convert back into the "formal dining space" for guests or holidays.

 

This year I gave up trying to "put up appearances" that we don't have school crap everywhere. :D

 

Here is our dining room now. No more rolling up a map and shoving it away in a cabinet out of sight:

 

 

And yes, the dining room looks like that when the guests are over now too.